European Environmental Agency and AED Team Up for Simultaneous Premiere

They’re in Copenhagen for the major talks on climate change, and we are here in the nation’s capitol. But this Sunday, Dec. 13th, we’ll all be watching the premiere of the new documentary, One Degree Matters, at the same time.

The film follows leaders in business and social change when they traveled to  Greenland this past spring to experience for themselves the dramatic effects of the melting of the ice cap. The doc also showcases the latest science from the arctic and illustrates the ways in which a further rise of only one degree in global temperature will greatly matter to the future of humankind.

If you’d like to join us for the movie and a complimentary light lunch of sustainable food, please RSVP to Michael Williams.

Watch the trailer here: http://vimeo.com/7692202

Denise Borders is New Head of Knowledge Alliance Board

Denise Glyn Borders, the senior vice president and director of the our U.S. Education and Workforce Development Group, is the new chairwoman of the board of directors of the Knowledge Alliance, a major force in U.S. education-research circles.

In the press release announcing Borders’ appointment, Jim Kohlmoos, the president and CEO of the Knowledge Alliance, said, “2010 will be a pivotal year for advancing knowledge and innovation in education reform in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country. With Denise at the helm, the Knowledge Alliance is ready to help lead the way to a new era of change and transformation.”

A South African Staff Meeting

Upon returning to South Africa, Viwe Mtshontsi held a meeting with AED’s staff there to share with them some of her experiences from the recent field leaders meeting she attended in Washington.

Here is what she had to say about the meeting: “On November 27, we gave report back on the Global Leaders workshop to staff in the Pretoria office and we combined that with an indigenous team building activity, drumming.  Each person was supplied with a drum and then introduced to drumming by two professional drummers, offering a unique and unforgettable experience teaching us to work together creating an ubounded network of rythm.” You can read more about Viwe here.

Community Colleges Focus of Fortune Article

Going Green: The Vital Role of Community Colleges in Building a Sustainable Future and a Green Workforce

AED’s resident green jobs expert, Mindy Feldbaum, was recently quoted in a story in Fortune magazine about the role community colleges play in creating an environmentally friendly workforce.

Mindy authored the report, Going Green: The Vital Role of Community Colleges in Building a Sustainable Future and a Green Workforce, which was released earlier this year and received quite a bit of buzz in print and online publications.

Community colleges are increasingly at the forefront of efforts to create a workforce that is well-prepared to fill emerging jobs. Workers who need to upgrade their skills and reorient themselves are looking to two-year institutions to regain or hold onto employment. Additionally, more high school graduates are turning to community colleges to begin their post-secondary studies, as they are often more affordable alternatives to four-year schools.

Much research has been performed on community colleges in recent years. AED, Iowa State University, and the Education Commission of the States joined forces to create the Community College Policy Center, which  disseminates best practices and lessons learned from that research to educators and policymakers. Read more about the center here.

‘We cannot replace face to face’

“We cannot replace face to face,” said AED President & CEO Stephen F. Moseley in the program’s conclusion. After hearing much from the participants, AED’s senior management detailed the actions they will take to address the many recommendations AED’s field leaders provided throughout the week.  Amidst concrete plans,  senior managers’ remarks also contained heart-felt expressions of gratitude and pride. For example, Patrick Fine, senior vice president and director of the AED Global Education Center, told the group,

“The quality of participation this week, the pertinence and usefulness of it, is humbling. It is a great privilege to be a colleague with everyone in this room.”

Such sentiments, and such a successful conference, led into a call for what Steve described as “total, continuous communication” moving forward. With a slideshow highlighting the major events and memorable moments of the week, field leaders wished each other well and made plans for how they will continue the dialogue after returning to their countries.

Comments from the week; what’s your take?

“This week was a big eye-opener for me.”

“The mission, vision, and values presentation… was right on.  It made me so proud to be part of AED.”

“Congratulations to the group for a prodigious effort in bringing together so many different perspectives.”

“Fabulous job!”

“This week has been fantastic.”

“AED is about people, and whatever changes come about, we need to maintain our focus on people.”

Friday: Final Day Until Next Time…

The final day: what have we learned?  Four panalists Jacqui Moller-Larsen, Ghana; Larry Held, Republic of Georgia; Joseph Addo-Yobbo, Ghana; Antigona Dajakaj, represented the field leaders in wrapping up their thoughts from the meeting.

The panel reiterated the theme of One AED beginning by framing the discussion as “thoughts from passionate pragmatists” and running through a series of concrete suggestions to further strengthen the relationship between the field and home office teams.

Ideas from each day of the conference and emerged including the emphasis on encouraging innovation, testing new ideas so that we can learn even faster.

And with “it’s possible” written on the bottom of each slide in the panel’s presentation, the session concluded with much energy to continue what has started this week.

Thursday – A Day with Project Staff

Field leaders took today to work with their project staff. We’ll hear about it tomorrow, when field leaders and home office staff meet in Academy Hall for the final day of Global Directions: Ensuring Program Excellence. In the meantime, don’t forget to check the Facebook page and tell us about your experiences from the week.

Meet a Field Leader from Honduras

José Ignacio Mata Gamarra

I am originally from Spain and have worked for AED in Latin America since August 1, 1982. Before coming to AED, I worked first in social development and then turned to the private advertising world. Although I enjoyed the immediate success and money, I also felt empty and stressed.

So, when Bill Smith from AED called to ask if I was interested in managing a small social marketing project in Honduras, I thought that I could get a rest in what I considered a normal 9 to 5 job and signed a 1 ½ year contract. I can now say after 27 years that it has never been a “normal job” or something “to get a rest,” but a very adventurous career, which put me in five different countries and provided me with stories for writing dozens of novels.

More than that, AED has given me the opportunity to jump from health to agriculture to environment, and currently to formal education in a permanent and surprising adventure. I am always looking for new challenges and new projects, and am convinced that my accumulated experience can bring any field project to its biggest possible success.

I have three daughters and one son (they have heard about AED almost during their entire life), a wife who sometimes has felt a little jealous of my commitment to AED, and two huge and smart dogs.

“Have you used your data today?”

Underlining the importance of M&E to AED’s work, and how it reflects what happens throughout a project, this afternoon’s plenary session is “Monitoring and Evaluation: Maximizing the Impact of AED’s Work at a System Level.”

“Have you used your data today?” is how John Gilles started the session.

“Remember it’s all about the people, not about the tools,” was some of the recommendations that Felix Alvarado shared from his experience doing data collection in Guatemala.  Data quality is something that emerges when it is collected between people.  Sometimes people are scared to share information because it has defects, and then because it isn’t shared, there is no impetus to improve it.

Using data to to advance equity is another important that Nadra Franklin made.  Because of the high value that AED places on it, she recommended this use even when it is not requested by a donor.

Reputation management is another application for data.  It can help differentiate a project, program, or an organization.